• Shibli Faraz wants judicial probe into alleged killings of protesters
• Dar says security forces resorted to ‘aerial firing’, but mess created as PTI leadership fled

ISLAMABAD: The opposition and the treasury benches in the Senate on Wednesday accused each other of stealing their mandate in 2024 and 2018 general elections, though they agreed that dialogue is the only way forward.

Initiating discussion on PTI’s protest in Islamabad, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz alleged that bullets had been fired directly on the peaceful protestors, claiming the lives of at least 13 protesters and leaving many others injured.

“Whereabouts of over 200 PTI activists are unknown. We do not know if they are alive or dead,” he remarked. He also said over 5,000 PTI workers were behind bars.

He regretted that some key ministers claimed there were no fatalities in the operation.

“We want supremacy of the law and the constitution. We want a robust democracy in the country. Democracy comes from democratic attitudes,” he stressed while demanding a judicial commission comprising three senior most judges of the apex court probe into May 9 and Nov 26 episodes. “We want the future generations to know what happened,” he remarked.

He regretted PTI’s “desire to advance the political process” is branded as an attempt to create anarchy.

Rejecting the allegations that the PTI protesters were violent, he threw a challenge on the government to bring forth CCTV footage as evidence.

Deploring the reaction of other political parties to the Nov 26 saga, Senator Shibli Faraz warned it could happen to them, too. He said 1.2m people had left the country, emphasising the need to ponder over mass exodus.

He alleged that PTI’s mandate had been stolen in 2024 general elections. He also regretted that the “illegitimate government” was framing laws, which were in no way democratic, and also introducing controversial amendments to the constitution.

Towards the end of his speech, he said his party “believes in dialogue”. He said the party’s founder had formed a five-member negotiating team, which was ready for talks with anybody. “The country cannot afford this tension, unrest and uncertainty for a longer time. Our economic condition does not allow this,” he observed.

He stressed that political differences must not be turned into personal enmity. He declared that the PTI would continue its political struggle and protests within the ambit of the constitution.

Responding to the points raised by him, Leader of the House Ishaq Dar appeared to be endorsing the call for dialogue by saying he believed in reconciliation. There was a need for unity in the face of conspiracies being hatched against the country, he said, adding that it was true dozens of PTI petitions were pending before election tribunals.

He did not defend the Feb 8 election fairness but raised questions on the transparency of 2018 general elections. “The entire world knows who really won and who was declared winner,” he remarked.

About the alleged use of live ammunition and killing of protesters, he said the government of the time would be answerable even if a single individual had lost life.

He said according to a briefing given to the government, the security forces did resort to aerial firing, but all the mess was created after the PTI leadership fled the scene, footage of which was available.

Mr Dar admired PTI’s skills in using social media to “spread false propaganda and their teams have mastered the art of producing fake news”.

However, he invited PTI to discuss a mutual agenda to pull Pakistan out of economic quagmire and ensure march towards self-reliance. He emphasised that the Charter of Democracy, was not a very old document, ensured continuity of democracy for at least 10 years.

“But things won’t work if just whatever you say is acceptable to you. We shall have to find a middle way,” he remarked.

Mr Dar reminded the PTI of what its supporters abroad were doing or getting done such as putting images of heads of security agencies on hired vans and added these vans could be hired by anyone. “Please don’t do it”.

He pointed out that while the defence minister was travelling underground in England he was threatened to be attacked with a knife. He also stressed that the overseas Pakistanis must not be misled about the number of deaths, as they had no idea how many had in fact died in the recent protest. “This will not help anyone,” he contended.

He said the PML-N did not have the authority to hold elections and that his party jointly endorsed PTI’s nominee as the Chief Election Commissioner and then the ECP secretary.

Referring to the PTI protests, he said, “We have not learnt lessons from the past, issues are not resolved through aggression, peaceful protest is everyone’s constitutional right but using government resources is not allowed.”

Mr Dar said cases against the PTI founder were in courts. He should get the relief if he is entitled to according to the law, he said, adding that cases were filed in 2018 as well but nobody could prove that the PML-N government had directed someone to file cases against the rivals. On the other hand, it was a known fact that during the PTI rule, how NAB chairman used to be called and directed to file cases and how Bashir Memon was summoned and asked to file cases against PML-N leader Khawaja Asif.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2024